blend | spring 2007

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blend Spring 2007 Issue 1 Volume 1 PREMIER ISSUE journalism starts right here INTERNET GENERATION How do you balance online social networks and reporting? Dealing with. . . DEADBEATS Whitney High School’s CINDERELLA STORY INTERVIEWING Not everything’s obvious Pick up! PHONE TIPS INSIDE: Settling staff disputes • Late night work nights • Having fun • Tips & Tricks • Earning trust • more!

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Our Spring 2007 issue of Blend Magazine! This season's issue of Blend features online sources for aspiring journalists, tips on Photoshop cutouts and much more!

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Blend | Spring 2007

blendSpring 2007Issue 1 Volume 1PREMIER ISSUE

journalism starts right here

Internet generatIonHow do you balance online social networks and reporting?

Dealing with. . .DeaDBeatS

Whitney High School’sCInDereLLa StorY

InterVIeWIngNot everything’s obvious

Pick up!PHone tIPS

INSIDE: Settling staff disputes • Late night work nights • Having fun • Tips & Tricks • Earning trust • more!

Page 2: Blend | Spring 2007

NCompass Media, [email protected] www.ncompassmedia.com214.641.2746

We’re the only company with clients who have wonInteractive Pacemaker awards the last three years. Ourclients have won eight of them and been nominatedfor an unprecedented seventeen total.

We’re the only company to offer in-school trainingand a summer workshop to every client, regardlessof which level of service they choose or the locationof their school.

We’re the only company that makes journalisticquality on your DVD our top priority.

We’re the only company that offers a full-customDVD Supplement that matches the design andtheme of your print book 100%.

For five years, NCompass Media has been revolutionizingthe DVD Yearbook Supplement. Our products, our customer service and our commitment to education and training have made us the leader in multimedia yearbooks, which has helped our clients produce award-winning projects.

Rarely is the best choice also the least expensive. Give us a call and let us show you how affordable excellence can be.

The best training.The most awards.The lowest prices.Why use anyone else?

The best training.The most awards.The lowest prices.Why use anyone else?

Page 3: Blend | Spring 2007

blendSpring 2007Issue 1 Volume 1

Ball State UniversityJournalism WorkshopsMuncie, IN 47306

PUBLISHERBrian Hayes

EDITORTom Gayda

BLEND STAFFLogan Aimone

Candace Perkins BowenJohn Bowen

Kathy CragheadKim Green

Ryan GuntermanH.L. Hall

Jim McGonnellAmy MorganMark NewtonChad RummelRyan SparrowRandy Swikle

Wendy WallaceBrian Wilson

CONTRIBUTORSNick Feldman

Jacky HicksJohn McBride

BUSINESS MANAGERAdam Maksl

OFFICE STAFFAshley CashenJincy Gibson

Shelby MurphyBecky Rother

Blend Magazine is published by the Journalism Workshops office at Ball State University. Call 765-285-8900

for advertising information or ques-tions. As well, you can always e-mail the staff at [email protected].

welcome to blend

Brian Hayes is the Director of Secondary Education in the Department of Journalism at Ball State Univer-sity. He is the for-mer newspaper and magazine adviser at Lawrence North High School in In-dianapolis. Hayes has worked professionally for several newspa-pers as a designer and graphic artist.

inside blend

ON THE COVERNorth Central High School senior news-paper editor Ted Boeglin appears on the cover of Blend. Next year, Ted plans to attend Indiana University.

NCompass Media, [email protected] www.ncompassmedia.com214.641.2746

We’re the only company with clients who have wonInteractive Pacemaker awards the last three years. Ourclients have won eight of them and been nominatedfor an unprecedented seventeen total.

We’re the only company to offer in-school trainingand a summer workshop to every client, regardlessof which level of service they choose or the locationof their school.

We’re the only company that makes journalisticquality on your DVD our top priority.

We’re the only company that offers a full-customDVD Supplement that matches the design andtheme of your print book 100%.

For five years, NCompass Media has been revolutionizingthe DVD Yearbook Supplement. Our products, our customer service and our commitment to education and training have made us the leader in multimedia yearbooks, which has helped our clients produce award-winning projects.

Rarely is the best choice also the least expensive. Give us a call and let us show you how affordable excellence can be.

The best training.The most awards.The lowest prices.Why use anyone else?

The best training.The most awards.The lowest prices.Why use anyone else?

3 • Write Now

4 • The Blender

6 • In the Business: Mike Wiggins

8 • Fun

10 • Tagged: Are you a Source?

16 • The Whitney Way

20 • Covering Hidden Secrets

22 • Tips & Tricks: Photoshop Cut-outs

24 • My Turn: Nick Feldman

25 • Work Night

26 • College Spotlight

27 • Page from Poynter

28 • The Gallery

Blend. What does it mean? No, it’s not an acronym for Bathing Little Elephants Near Den-ver. Nor is it a magazine devoted to cooking. It is, however, a magazine that brings together students and advisers to learn, explore and discuss the latest trends, tips and careers in the journalism field — no matter what type of media they’re practicing.

A few months ago, Tom Gayda and I began discussing the possibility of creating a new magazine for student journalists looking to improve their high school publications and who are interested in pursuing a career in journalism. We wanted to create an affordable, un-biased publication that would serve as a factual and reliable source for both students and advisers. Therefore, while Ball State has an obvious stake in producing the magazine, we wanted it to be bias-free, giving all universities, schools, and colleges an equal opportunity to be featured and advertise.

As the concept of the magazine became clear, the more excited we got. We recruited top-notch journalism advisers and professionals from all across the country to write and supply ideas for the magazine. We’ve asked high school students to contribute by giving narratives on how they covered a particular story. Each issue will feature a different journal-istic career, show samples of good student journalism, highlight a collegiate program and provide software training and tips. And we’ll certainly do more as we grow and evolve over time.

Needless to say, this is an exciting time to be a student journalist pursuing a media career and we hope Blend will become your first resource in the field. If you would like to submit a story idea, seek more information or subscribe to Blend magazine, please contact us at [email protected].

We look forward to serving you.

Blend is printed by Friesen Yearbooks.

Page 4: Blend | Spring 2007

!

Journalism WorkshopsAdviser workshop 1: July 16-20Adviser workshop 2: July 23-27

bsujournalismworkshops.com

summer

5-Day workshop: July 22-26On the Ball workshop: July 27-29

Ball State UniversityCollege of Communication, Information, and Media

Page 5: Blend | Spring 2007

Recently, my 77-year-old mother was in the local hospital for five days. Naturally, I spent a lot of time in her room where a sign on the door to the restroom caught my eye. Prominent-ly displayed was her “I and O” chart.

We don’t need to discuss what that “I and O” chart was all about (hint: there was a reason it was close to the rest-room…) but it did remind me of a basic reporting require-ment. Although it should go without saying, writers should never attempt an article for the newspaper or yearbook without suf-ficient I and O.

Interviewing and ob-servation are the building blocks of basic reporting. Yet, many times begin-ning journalists will limit interviewing and totally pass over observing. So it sounds like a no-brainer: editors and advisers must demand reporters attend the events they are going to write about. There is evidence everywhere this does not happen.

Years ago, the local football team had a heart-breaking loss to end the season. A few days later, the yearbook reporter left her story on the editor’s desk.

The lead: Games can be won, lost or tied in the last seconds of the last quarter. This was proven Nov. 10 against the Rock Bridge Bru-ins when they tied the game in the last five seconds. This was a crushing blow to the team who had played tremendously and managed to keep ahead throughout most of the game.

Obviously, the lead had problems. In the story conference we talked about the lack of color, lack of specifics, grammar issues, use of opinion and repetition of words. We even briefly visited passive voice and ambiguous antecedents.

The first revision: The clock read five seconds. The screams and cheers of the crowd rang in the players’ ears. The clock started and thump, the football sailed through the air over the goalpost. The whistles blew and the game was tied.

Much better, we noted. But, because the editor and I had been at the game we knew there was a fundamental problem

with the lead: it didn’t happen that way. There was no noise at all from the Mexico stands, and certainly no “screams and cheers.”

The next conference with the writer was much more pointed. She was sorry, but, as she finally confessed, she had not been at the big game. No one would work for her at Pizza Hut that night, so she had been writing the story based on

what she heard/thought happened.

We chose not to let the writer off the hook. In-stead, the editor required her to watch the whole game tape, and interview every senior on the team, among others.

The next version we printed: With two sec-onds left in the game Nov. 10 no noise came from the Mexico stands. Fans stood in stunned silence as they saw a sure thing dissolve into a tie game with one kick from Rock Bridge’s Michael Towner.

In overtime, when the Bulldogs were unable to regain momentum, the team saw its hopes of ad-vancing to the Quarterfi-nals for the first time ever disappear.

Editors must demand all reporters observe, then interview. One of the hard-est lessons to learn about reporting is that very little of what you write down (or should be writing down) will actually be used in the story. But, not knowing what to leave out is a much easier problem to have than not knowing enough to put in.

Somewhere along the line, reporters who truly seek to improve their writing must buy into I and O wholeheart-edly. There’s a reason those cool reporters notebooks fit into pockets so easily and that tape recorders now are so small. Observation will give you an overview and background. Interviewing will give you facts and, in the quotes of others, opinions.

Together, I and O will be the backbone of the story. Maybe it’s obvious. But, maybe there are people at your school who just need a chart on the door.

Kathy Craghead has advised for 32 years. She is the 2003 National High School Yearbook Adviser of the Year and former Missouri High School Journal-ism Teacher of the Year. Craghead is a former member of the national JEA Board of Di-rectors. She hasreceived the Medal of Merit, Pioneer and Dow Jones DistinguishedAdviser Awards. She has taught at numerousworkshops and conferences throughout the country.

write now by Kathy Craghead • Mexico High School

Interviewing key to good reporting

have a story idea? wanna write for blend?e-mail us at: [email protected]

spring 2007 blend magazine 3

we accept submissions from students and advisers!

Page 6: Blend | Spring 2007

the blenderw

ord

scra

mbl

e!MIXED MEDIA

The following scrambled words spell out words journalists regularly use. Can you unscramble the following words using your journalistic know-how?

1.eaneidld____________________

2. cosure____________________

3. hoptapeghror____________________

4. comunl____________________

5.tewrinive____________________

6.perrorte____________________

7.citanop____________________

8.dalhenie____________________

9.scearreh____________________

10.mocrupte____________________

11. nidiget____________________

12. hopot____________________

13. deal____________________

14. eoqut____________________

15. libyen____________________

journalism etiquette

Ten years ago, the world of cellular phones was much different. Phones were large and clunky, and more people didn’t have them than did. Fast forward and cell phones are razor thin and everyone seems to have one.

With new technology comes new responsibilities. When using a phone for publications busi-ness, keep the following tips in mind:

• If you leave a message for a source to call you back on your cell phone, make sure your voicemail message is professional. You don’t want to turn off a potential source by leaving a message that contains music with four-letter words or you screaming that you will return their call. Not everyone will share in your sense of humor.

• When leaving a message, speak slowly and repeat the pertinent information twice. The first time you mention important information, the lis-tener may not be ready to write down what you are saying. Give them the opportunity to grab a pen and not have to replay the message.

• When conducting an interview via the phone, make sure to note that in your article. “In a phone interview she said. . .”

• Be brief whether leaving a message, talking to a source or recording your voicemail message. Nowadays, everyone’s in a hurry!

411 on phone calling & messaging

Indiana High School Press Association student board president Spencer Hegewald greets Governor Mitch Daniels prior to the First Amendment Symposium on March 6. IHSPA president Ryan Gunterman is pictured in the back-ground. photo by Clark Hadley

Caught on digital mediaPublications PuzzlerAcross2. caption4. pica8. first10. libel

11. Albom12. lead

Down1. noon2. CNN3. period

5. adviser6. Hazelwood7. folio9. twelve

Mixed Media1. deadline

2. source3. photographer4. column5. interview6. reporter7. caption8. headline

9. research10. computer11. editing12. photo13. lead14. quote15. byline

Puzzler Answers

Page 7: Blend | Spring 2007

Dispute resolution

ask kim

Each issue, veteran adviser Kim Green answers questions you submit. Need help with an issue or solution to a problem? Contact Kim at [email protected] with the subject “Ask Kim.”

Q: Our editor in chief is hardly worthy of the job. He never stays after school or helps out when the paper needs to be edited. What can we do before we ask our adviser to do something?

A: First, don’t let this problem keep your staff from turning out a quality publication. In other words, don’t get so bogged down with whether or not the editor is a “good editor” or “the best person for the job” that the publication suffers. I’ve never seen a poor editor turn good writers, designers and photographers into hacks. Remem-ber: It’s all about your publication not about personalities. That said — have you talked with the editor? Although it may not seem like it, life happens outside the publications room, and your editor may be dealing with something “out there” which is affecting performance in here. You owe it to the editor to explore this possibility first as you should expect the same respect if you aren’t doing your job. If that doesn’t yield answers or results, consult your adviser for help in motivating the editor. Chances are good that your adviser already knows the situation and may even go so far as to remove the editor’s name from the staff box as I did once for the same reason. However, you may have to face a fact of life. Sometimes, the wrong person gets the job — even in real life “boss doesn’t equal best.” If that’s the case, step up and rally the troops for your real purpose, producing a top-notch student publication.

Dealing with a deadbeat

Across2. explains the action of a photo4. six of these make an inch8. amendment that grants free press rights10. written defamation11. Mitch’s last name12. the first paragraph of a news story

Down1. 12 p.m.’s alias2. network home for Larry King3. sentence ender5. another name for your journalism teacher6. famous court case featuring a teenage pregnancy story7. this includes the date and page number9. number of points in a pica

Publications Puzzler

Kim Green directs the student publications at Columbus (Ind.) North High School. A 2006 Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser of the Year, the publica-tions Green’s students create are consistent award winners.

Tom Gayda ad-vises the student publications at North Central High School in In-dianapolis. He is Region 6 director of the Journal-ism Education Association and former president of the Indiana High School Press Association. Gayda received his BS and MA from Ball State University. He is a 2005 Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser of the Year.

spring 2007 blend magazine 5

When disputes started to arise on my newspaper staff several years ago, we started TNL Court.

Personalities are bound to clash. You might want a nice, happy staff all the time, but chances are that is not going to happen.

When disputes started to arise on my newspaper staff several years ago, we started TNL Court (named for The Northern Lights, the paper’s name).

When staff members want to have a grievance settled with a fellow staff member, or I am annoyed by someone, court is called and a ruling will be made. The fact that I am also the judge

doesn’t help students I sue, but a jury of fellow staffers is always in place to help decide the outcome.

Cases have arisen for all sorts of reasons. A staff member has missed a deadline,

people have left class early or abused their press passes. These are but a few of the typical rea-sons we hold court.

While the outcome is not al-ways as successful as I would like it to be, court does force the staff to address their problems and not let them get bottled up. And that is what’s most important.

Egos can occasionally get in the way of producing strong student publications, and that’s just no good. Remember that the publication you are working on is bigger than the sum of its parts. Chances are, you are working on a publication that has been around a long time, and will be around a long time after you have graduated. While there might be occasional fights here and there, keep in mind the need to be professional at all times.

Page 8: Blend | Spring 2007

Q: You were on the student newspaper in high school. Is that when you first got hooked on journalism?MW: I think so. I’ve always enjoyed writing and I took a journalism class and then decided to go write for the high school paper. I also enjoyed reading newspapers, sports mostly.

Q: If you had to describe your experience on the high school newspaper now that you look back at it 13 years ago as a professional what stands out about that time?MW: You know, college probably stands out more than high school. High school seemed a little bit of a hodge-podge — you came up with a story idea and you went out and wrote the story. I learned how to write a sports game story and feature profiles. You just kind of felt your way along and learned what you liked and didn’t like. I learned I really liked to write.

Q: When you were in high school is that when you made the decision to go to college and major in journalism?MW: I think I knew coming out of high school I was going to college and major in journalism. In fact, I declared my major my freshman year. The interesting thing is that there was a part of me that wanted to get into broadcast journalism. I went to Mesa State because they had both print and broadcast journalism. I had this idea that it would be great to be a radio broadcaster for a professional baseball or professional basketball. It was one of those childhood dreams; it would be really awesome to be a professional broadcaster.

Q: What was your experience like working on a college newspaper and how did you become the managing editor your senior year at Mesa?MW: One of my professors my freshman year encouraged me to go apply for the paper the next year, so I did. I think it was something I was going to do anyway. I ended up being a copy editor my sophomore year and about halfway through the fall semester I got moved over to assistant news editor. I was strictly responsible for writing news stories. Then, my junior year, I was the news editor so I did both writing and layout. My senior year, I applied and became the (managing) editor.

Q: What was the transition like from being a writer and designer to being the man in charge?MW: I don’t think I was interested in management because it presented all kinds of aspects that I really had no clue about — managing a budget, overseeing advertising, dealing with conflict.

Q: Did you have any internships?MW: After my junior year in the summer I worked for a government-access cable television station. I was more interested in getting the internship done than I was in broadcast journalism. For two months, I packed a lot in. I did a lot of camera stuff, stand-ups, voice-overs for packages, and then a lot of behind the scenes stuff — camera, audio, video, graphics. All the broadcasts were recorded so if you screwed up they’d rewind and start over. It was a great experience. I really enjoyed it.

Q: After you graduated, you got a job working for a small community newspaper. What was it like working there?MW: The position was the education beat and on Sunday you’d lay out Monday’s paper. I enjoyed doing that. It was an opportunity to utilize a part of me that I hadn’t done a lot of before. I also added the county government beat for the last year or so.

Q: After working at a small daily for two years, you decided to take a job at a bigger paper in Grand Junction. Why the change?MW: I had been in Glenwood for two years and thought it was time to move to something else. Grand Junction had an opening, the cops and courts beat. They had offered it to someone and she turned it down, so I got it.

Q: Do you enjoy working the cops and courts beat?

MW: I do like covering cops and courts. It can get a little old after awhile because it is very formulaic writing — someone got arrested, here are the charges, here’s the details, here’s the next court date, bam and you’re done. It is a very interesting beat. I didn’t have a lot of experience; I was pretty naïve about the court system and how it worked. So, getting to cover the beat in a larger town with more crime, more of a variety of crime, was a really good introduction into the legal system. It’s a very busy beat. You probably write more daily stories for the cops beat than you do for any other beat.

Q: So, yesterday you were writing about an inmate who escaped from the jail. What are you working on today?MW: Today I’m working on a follow-up about the inmate escaping and his sister apparently helping him out. I’m also working on a story for the weekend about the impact the cold and snowy weather has on the traffic at local golf courses, and on road construction and public works projects.

Q: Does that story come from you or was that pitched?MW: The story about the impact of the lingering snow and cold was something that I had really just come up with driving around town and noticing how much snow was on the ground. So that story was really an enterprise. You’re encouraged to do as much enterprise as you can. I have to react to stories and generate my own stories.

Mark Newton, MJE, the journal-ism teacher at Grand Junction High School in Grand Junction, Colo., is the advis-er of The Orange & Black. He has been a teacher for 21 years and an adviser for 20 in Colorado and Arizona. He is the current JEA Certi-fication Commis-sion chairperson and the former JEA Southwest Region 2 director and JEA Colorado state director. The Orange & Black has been named the best newspaper in Colorado by the Colorado High School Press As-sociation the last two years. The Orange & Black was inducted into the NSPA Hall of Fame in 2003. The student newsmagazine has also earned two NSPA Pacemakers (newsmagazine and online) and a CSPA Gold Crown. He is a speaker at local, state, and national conven-tions, and a sum-mer workshops instructor. He is married (Pam) and has two children (Chris, Jamie).

in the businessMeet Mike Wiggins, Grand Junction (Colo.) Daily Sentinel

Page 9: Blend | Spring 2007

Q: You’re also the part-time city editor. Do you like that role?MW: It’s interesting. It’s interesting to gain an editor’s perspective. It helps you appreciate the kind of work they do. It’s a very intense job. You’re not only keeping track of what your reporters are doing, you’re making sure you have enough stuff for the daily paper, and you’re also keeping one eye on the weekend paper. You’re also looking at what other media are doing, making sure you’re not missing out on anything. It leaves no time for writing.

Q: Is journalism about writing for you? Do you like the reporting, too?MW: I like the writing and the reporting. They definitely go hand in hand. It’s great to uncover information that no one else has, to do a little bit of digging or to ask those questions to get at the heart of an issue.

Q: You’re writing every day. How do you get better? What are the things you’re doing to really try to improve your writing?MW: One thing I’ve discovered is that you really get better as a writer and reporter by reading other writing. You gain so much from that. You see how other people write, you get story ideas, you get ideas on how to report and what kinds of questions to ask, you get ideas on certain angles to take on stories. There’s so much to learn from reading other people’s writing. I think you also get better by taking a step back from your narrow, focused little world of reporting and really focus on the story — what does Joe Q. Public really want to know? How does the story affect me?

Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?MW: I guess one of the hardest things is staying fresh. You can get so caught up in this job and what you’re writing and the issues that you’re focused on, you can lose perspective. So, I try to not to think about work when I go home. I separate my life; it helps me stay focused.

Q: Do you like the idea that journalism is different, yet the same?MW: It’s intriguing because you don’t know what you’re going to encounter when you walk into that door. The variety and not knowing what you’re going to cover is interesting.

Q: Best story you ever wrote?MW: A story I wrote last September about Rebecca Carroll and about methamphetamine. I did a huge story about how meth just completely ruined her life. It really is a story about the devastating impact of meth, just how far-reaching it can be and how many lives it can touch and ruin. I did a four- or five-hour interview with her, brought a photographer along, brought a video camera and did a multi-media package we ended up posting on the Internet. Just sitting there listening to her story about what had happened. I think the thing that stuck most with me was she said, “The thing that scares me most is even after everything I’ve been through, if someone offered me meth right now, I don’t know that I could turn it down.” You leave an interview like that you have to drive and park somewhere.

Q: You mentioned multi-media — it’s a huge thing right now. How’d that all come about?MW: It’s a push we need to make. We basically got a crash course. One of our photographers, half her job now is all video. It’s a huge push. There’s not any doubt that it won’t be a huge part of newspapers in the future. There’s not any question I need to adapt to it. All of us are being encouraged and evaluated on our contributions to the Web site.

Q: What would you say to high school students who want to be journalists?MW: No matter what beat you cover or what you write about, remember that you’re writing about real people. Be fair and be

balanced. Be hard on people and be persistent when the situation calls for it. But when the situation does call, take into consideration people’s emotions and feelings. The other thing is your credibility is all you have. Once you lose that, it’s hard to get it back. It kind of ties into the fact that people should always be your focus.

by Mark Newton • Grand Junction High School

Photos by Amy Knackendoffel, senior, photo editor

Mike on MikeI grew up in Aurora, Colo., and spent my junior and senior years

on the high school newspaper staff, writing news, feature and sports stories. Graduated from Rangeview High School in 1994.

I attended college at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., and spent three years on the Criterion staff. I was the editor my senior year. Wrote news and feature stories and some editorial columns. I also did some game broadcasts for KMSA, the campus radio station, my senior year.

I sought an internship after my junior year at Mesa Sate. I wanted to work at a newspaper, but started the application process too late. I ended up interning at a TV station in Aurora for two months, doing both on-camera and off-camera work. It was a worthwhile experi-ence, in that it showed me another facet of journalism, but I knew I wanted to go into print journalism. I graduated from Mesa State in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication.

My first job was at the Glenwood Post (Glenwood Springs, Colo.). I worked there from Aug. 1998 to Dec. 2000, covering education and county government.

I’ve been at the Daily Sentinel since Jan. 2001, covering courts and cops and city government. For the last year, I’ve also handled part-time city editor duties, meaning I assign and edit stories.

Read Mike’s work: http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/02/17/2_17_1aRebecca_Carroll_arrested.html

spring 2007 blend magazine 7

Page 10: Blend | Spring 2007

Little things mean a lot!Whether a staff is trying to finish a newspaper or year-

book deadline, or trying to get the final script together for a broadcast, sometimes you just have to take time out for a “fun” break to keep the adrenaline flowing. These fun breaks should be arranged by the students — not the advisers.

Even if it’s something as simple as celebrating a birthday, it helps staff members realize producing a final product is not all work and no play.

“We cel-ebrate every birthday,” Caro-lyn Woodward, publications adviser at Clarkrange High School in Tennessee, said. “We have a party chairman. We also get our principal to serve as the master of ceremonies for our awards program. We use those big thick pepper-mint logs for our Oscars or our Emmys.”

Kathy Craghead at Mexico High School in Mexico, Missouri, said her staff has what she calls the “Accidental Tradition,” but it has grown to such proportions that the students call it the annual Holiday Coloring Contest.”

“It started out as just something to do before holiday break,” Kathy said, “but it has morphed into this big event.”

Each class period, the students compete against each other in coloring, Kathy said. Students may pick their colors up to one week in advance and may practice on other pages in their down time. However, they have to color the contest entry in class on the designated day. An impartial judge picks the top winner and three runners-up.

“The rewards are prized,” Kathy said. “They’re Sonic gift cards, Slinkys and holiday candy, but the bragging rights last forever.”

Whereas Mexico students know in advance when the coloring contest will be, some staffs do things on the spur of the moment. Jeff Nardone said his newspaper staff at Grosse Pointe South High School in Michigan, had a kick-ball game on the front lawn of the school on the first deadline night.

“There are two reasons things like this are fun,” Nardone said. “Number one, we all need a little stress relief on a dead-line night, and number two, moving around and burning off energy is always helpful. The game also helped some of the kids learn the value of working together and getting along with each other. They all had to participate, they all had to try, and they all had fun.”

Pete LeBlanc’s students at Center High School in Antelope, California also play games.

“We have our annual Blue & Gold vs. Epic football game,” LeBlanc said. “We’ll also play football during the year. They’re a great tension reducer.”

Fun can occur in places other than on the school campus.Joy McCaleb from Upperman High School in Tennes-

see said attending national conventions create those fun, exciting times for her students who attend a rural school and almost never leave home. Last year, they went to the national

JEA convention in San Francisco.

“They learned a lot at the sessions,” Mc-Caleb said, “but they learned so much more. They learned about airline requirements and finding transportation. They learned about a place where the words ‘melting pot’ took on an entirely new meaning. They also bonded.”

Monthly theme din-ners also help students bond, according to Sarah Nichols from Whitney High School in Rocklin, California. At a 4-9 p.m. after school deadline, students take a break for dinner at 6 p.m. These dinners focus

on a specific theme.“A group of four

students plan each dinner,” Nichols said. “The kids and/or their parents decided on the food and the decorations. There’s usu-ally cute table decorations and little favors. We play games and take pictures of each dinner to see if the next month’s group could outdo what had already been done.”

Dinners ranged from luaus to Mexican fiestas to Mardi Gras banquets.

Fun on publication staffs often centers around food. There have been staffs who have built a 10-tiered cake out of Twinkies and staffs who have built ice cream sundaes big enough to feed 100 people.

Whatever student editors decide to do to have fun, they should stretch their minds and not do the same things year after year. My staffs at Kirkwood High School always had fun announcing staff positions for the coming year. I advised at KHS for 26 years, and the staffs never used the same way to introduce positions.

One year they wrote names and positions on 3,000 tennis balls and wrote names and positions on 66 of those as year-book and newspaper staffs always did this activity together. Staff members had to find their own ball in order to find their positions.

Another time, students went to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game and the graduating seniors wrote names and positions on 66 scorecards. Students had to find their own scorecard in order to find their position.

Whatever activity you decide on, stretch your minds. Even if it’s an activity that only takes five minutes, it will help get the adrenaline flowing again. Little things do mean a lot!

H.L. Hall is currently the executive director of the Tennessee High School Press Association at Vanderbilt University. His is also the past president of JEA and was local chair of the Nashville convention last fall. He advised the yearbook and newspaper at Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Mo. before retiring from teaching in 1999. Both publications were Gold Crown and Pacemaker winners. He is the author of two textbooks — High School Journalism and Junior High Jour-nalism. He is the recipient of the Gold Key Award from CSPA, the national news-paper adviser of the year from Dow Jones, the national year-book adviser of the year from JEA, the Pioneer Award from NSPA and the Carl Towley Award from JEA.

fun by H.L. Hall • JEA past president

Important to mix good times with stressful work

Members of the Whitney (Calif.) High School yearbook staff get “married” at the beginning of the new year. See page 16 for more about the Whitney yearbook staff.

Page 11: Blend | Spring 2007

RevolutionGet into it at www.jostens.com/yearbooks.

The yearbook revolution has begun™.

InnovationJostens is the first yearbook company to offer the Adobe InDesign® CS toolbar.

ConnectionOur representatives provide unmatched yearbook knowledge and experience.

CreationOnline yearbook creation at www.YearbookAvenue.com with YearTech® Online.

EducationEnjoy the ease of teaching with Jostens unique 1,2,3 Yearbook Curriculum.

Page 12: Blend | Spring 2007
Page 13: Blend | Spring 2007

taggeD

Emerging social networks have provided student journalists with new options. . .

are you a source?by Ryan Gunterman

Page 14: Blend | Spring 2007

Ernie Pyle had his soldiers. The New York Times used the Pentagon Papers. Woodward and Bernstein relied on “Deep Throat.”

So what are the sources for today’s aspiring journalists?The Internet; more specifically MySpace and Facebook.With more than 150 million registered users, and

320,000 more every day on MySpace, and another 14 million-plus on Facebook, these online communities are becoming more of an everyday part of life for today’s teens. Users can discover a wealth of information about other individuals with a registered page — from birthdays, to hobbies, to “top eight” best friends. Now it’s becoming a regular fixture in the scholastic newsroom.

Advisers are noticing how these social online avenues are becoming a part of the newsgathering process as a whole.

“Students seem to check this more regularly than e-mail,” said Rod Satterthwaite, adviser at Dexter HS in Dexter, Mich. “I do know students have contacted people on their MySpace/Facebook to set up an interview.”

Satterthwaite estimates that 90 percent or more of his students maintain their own personal MySpace/Facebook sites. However, while his publications students use the sites for setting up interviews, he said the information that comes from a source’s personal page goes through the same fact-checking process as any other piece of information used in a story.

“The Internet is fine for gathering background information,” he said. “Students need to verify all information they obtain on the Internet with at least one other source; preferably a human source.”

That information provided is even serving as a catalyst to the journalistic process. Sarah Nichols, adviser at Whitney HS in Rocklin, Calif., said her students enjoy using MySpace and Facebook to

generate story ideas.“Our student journalists use it to see what’s out there and get ideas

or make generalizations about a trend,” Nichols said. Both sites provide search engines where people can find individuals

and groups that share interests. Users can also contact each other via one-on-one messaging or by posting notes on each others’ pages that anyone who visits the site can see.

12 blend magazine spring 2007

MySpace is the most popular of the online

social networks, with more than 61 million

users.

Page 15: Blend | Spring 2007

Some staffs are taking advantage of this. These sites have been used to promote and receive feedback on content.

“We use MySpace to send our notices to the masses about yearbook sales, photo opportunities and getting ideas from our readers about what they want to see in the (yearbook),” said Kelly Short, adviser at Jeffersonville HS in Jeffersonville, Ind.

However, Nichols said that’s as far as her staff goes with these pages. While they are good for making contact and generating story ideas, she said the journalistic work begins once her staff members log off.

“The true reporting begins with person-to-person research, interviews and so forth. We don’t consider (MySpace/Facebook) past the initial stage in newsgathering.”

Adviser Terry Nelson at Muncie Central HS in Muncie, Ind. doesn’t even allow usage of the two sites to get to that stage. She said the sites are made for personal use only — and should stay that way.

“It’s meant for networking, but socially, not intellectually,” Nelson said. “I think it would be a violation of social intention for information to be published to an audience seeking entertainment.”

Nelson’s worried about the effect these personal web portals may have on the journalistic development of her students. She said the use of these sites can hamper a journalist’s skill of observation and encourage “butt reporting” where a student writes a story without ever moving away from a computer screen.

“There still is nothing better than using legs to seek out face to face; in-depth reporting, where a reporter can observe facial expressions, mannerism, stance, and make a connection to the person he is writing about,” Nelson said.

journalism onlineSome high school publications have taken advantage of the

popularity — and cost (free!) — of online social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

Homestead (Fort Wayne, Ind.) High School has a Facebook site that allows visitors to suggest story ideas, participate in opinion polls and view photos taken by the Spartana staff.

Student journalists have used these sites to also build support for First Amendment and censorship causes. Facebook also features a First Amendment group for those who are passionate about their constitutional rights.

Xanga is an online site for blogging. Xanga is free

and popular among a variety of age groups.

Page 16: Blend | Spring 2007

Ryan Gunterman is the newspaper and yearbook adviser at Bloomington High School North in Bloomington, Ind., and is the president of the Indiana High School Press Association. Ryan, a 2002 graduate of Indiana University, has been working in scholastic journalism since high school and was sports editor and editor in chief for the Indiana Daily Student, IU’s student newspaper. He has also taught at several summer journalism workshops and presented at numer-ous national and state conventions.

It’s not just against Nelson’s policy to use the sites for journalistic work, but it’s also against her school’s policy to view the sites at school.

Muncie Central isn’t the only one.Many high schools block the personal sites from loading on school

computers; citing “personal use” of the Internet as against corporation policy.

But that hasn’t stopped students from getting to them.Students will use what’s called a “tunnel” site, meaning

they will navigate to an unblocked site and find a link to the blocked page in question. That link is reconfigured enough from the original web address where the school’s Internet filtering software won’t prevent the page from loading.

But the reasoning for blocking these sites isn’t just to keep kids on task while in the classroom. Instances of “cyber bullying” through these sites have been reported, and some school districts have taken notice — even to the point of threatening First Amendment rights.

Clark-Pleasant school district in Whiteland, Ind., passed a policy making statements made on MySpace and Facebook pages subject to

punishment through school rules; regardless of whether or not it was done with corporation computers.

Nearby Carmel-Clay schools in Carmel, Ind., has also punished students for what has been posted on their personal sites. While the corporation doesn’t have a written policy such as Clark-Pleasant’s, Technology Director Steve Dillion said the students in the district are simply being held responsible for their actions.

“We respect free speech,” Dillion said. “This just falls under legal harassment laws.”

Dillon said the district doesn’t go looking for items online in order to punish students. Law enforcement officials first receive a subpoena for the Web site information, and then school officials decide whether or not to take action.

“There have been instances not pursued,” Dillon said. But Satterthwaite has seen instances where it

has. He said he is “surprised” how willing some students are to display information that can, and have, lead to dire consequences for those

posting it.“Student athletes had pictures of themselves

on their accounts smoking and holding red cups. They had to serve sports punishment/suspension

because of this,” he said. “I’m not sure students today have any privacy concerns since everything,

to them, seems to be public.” But despite the controversy the social

networks have created in some instances, there are those that see them as just another means of

communication and something student journalists can use to their advantage. Some believe it’s only a matter of time before MySpace and Facebook are

used for more than just social interaction.“There is, however, great potential (with these

sites),” said Mark Newton, adviser at Grand Junction HS in Grand Junction, Colo. “Think about reviews or

identifying new trends, bands, etc. I think we need to train student-journalists to see (MySpace/Facebook) as

sources.”

Facebook is frequently used by university

professors, like Kent State’s Candace

Perkins Bowen. This site allows for easy

communication between students and

professors.

High School teachers also utilize Facebook. Blend staff

member Logan Aimone has his own site.

Page 17: Blend | Spring 2007
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Page 19: Blend | Spring 2007

the

WhitneyWay

school enjoys

early success

by Kim Green

Page 20: Blend | Spring 2007

An expression regarding excellence, “It’s all in the details,” holds true for the brand new yearbook produced by Whitney High School in Rocklin, Calif. In fact, Details is the name of the book, and Wow! It does live up to that label!

So far this year — its inaugural volume — the accolades have poured in: Best of Show in Nashville in November, a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown

recipient in March and a Pacemaker finalist.

Advised by Sarah Nichols, a 2007 Journalism Education Association Distinguished Adviser, the yearbook features the theme “People First.” The staff chose a chronological organization that picks up on both weeks and significant single days of “firsts.”

According to Nichols, theme development is “very layered, so many different ways with the focus always on the people involved: the first touchdown, the first person to buy a parking pass.”

In fact, one of the coolest packages carrying out the theme covers students individually sharing something

they always do and something nobody knows about them. These included a fun photo of each student. Three-to-eight of them are grouped together on each spread, inviting readers to every spread in the book.

Now, keep in mind, this staff was not an experienced group of upperclassmen. This was a group of 31 freshmen and sophomores, representing the 625 underclassmen to

step through Whitney’s doors that first day in August.

“It was a huge challenge,” Nichols admitted. “They couldn’t drive, so we had to plan photo assignments carefully. Last minute things couldn’t happen.”

That didn’t stop the problems, though. With part of the campus still under construction, power failures, yellow construction tape, workers everywhere and no computers made the start difficult. In fact, Nichols said once they got computers, the school’s network was not set up right so the first spreads wouldn’t save.

“The first eight weeks were chaos,” she said.

It wasn’t all gloom, though. The staff managed to team-build and bond. They sold ads outside school. They even incorporated a font called “Whitney” into the book. The young staff stepped up, and according to the letter accompanying their book at distribution, they “learned a ton in the process (we literally re-did about half of the book on proofs because the staff learned so much in such a short time).”

And it shows. When it comes to excellence, pay attention to Details.

Previous spread: Whitney High School yearbook staff members enjoy a staff activity meant to promote staff relations.

Above: Adviser Sarah Nichols poses with members of the Details staff after their Best of Show trophy presentation.

Opposite page: Spreads from the award-winning Details yearbook.

18 blend magazine spring 2007

So far this year – Detail’s inaugural volume - the accolades have poured in: Best of Show in Nashville in November, a Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown recipient in March and a Pacemaker finalist.

Page 21: Blend | Spring 2007
Page 22: Blend | Spring 2007

HIDDENSTORIES

Every school has its places that pique the curiosity of students, and Fort Dodge Senior High is no different.

We just decided to find those places, and present them to the kids in the school newspaper.

The discussion of the “hidden places” began, oddly enough, during a organizational meeting for a previous issue. We always try to do a center spread that goes beyond just a bunch of stories and present something visual to catch our readers’ eyes. We began talking about what we could for the upcoming issue when we strayed from the topic and started discussing where everyone goes for tornado drills.

I then told my students that once my daughter, when she was in elementary school, had to go to the basement of her school during an actual tornado warning one spring.

Of course that led to the discussion of whether or not schools even had basements. Our school does, and very few students

know that. Well, the discussion began to turn to where this basement was located, and invariably, what other places are there in the school which are “hidden away” from most people. Of course, they couldn’t believe there were places throughout the school that students didn’t know about. But, they were wrong.

“I’ve always been really curious about all these places tucked away. I figured the rest of the school would like to know about them,” said Assistant Editor Abbey Hanish, who was one of the driving forces behind the story.

We began to make a list of the obvious. Of course the basement would be included, but it was funny how different students could add a new place to the list that most students didn’t even know about.

That list included a crawl space under the hallway in the Industrial Tech wing. It included the huge storage area above our gymnasium, which included a treasure trove of trophies, among other things.

“The attics and basements are full of old

school paraphernalia,” said Editor in Chief Evan Swanson. “There’s a whole pile of trophies that date anywhere between the ‘30s and ‘80s.”

The list also included an area underneath the swimming pool. That was most surprising to me. I was a student at this high school back in the mid 1980s and I’ve taught here for the past eight years, and even I didn’t know that place existed.

So with a camera in hand, and a small group of pioneers in tow, we headed out to find the hidden places of the school.

I knew where most of the places were located. We started, oddly enough, with the old, now defunct, darkrooms that are located in my classroom. My staff knows they are there, but all of them conceded that very few students know that we used to have two functioning darkrooms (which of course are now storage because of the age of digital photography).

Next, we went to the janitors’ closet on the second floor. At first glance it didn’t seem too exciting until I pointed out the

Digging behind the scenes. by John McBride

Page 23: Blend | Spring 2007

ladder leading to the crawl space above all the second-floor rooms and ultimately out to the roof. Of course, everyone wanted to go up to the roof, but I said no.

That’s really how the rest of the day went. We went to the basement that started the whole thing and found out that we actually have two basements in our school and they are connected by a series of tunnels where the hot-water pipes run throughout the building, delivering hot water to the radiators.

We discovered the boiler room, and the brand new boilers that were installed last year, and discovered where all those hot-water pipes start and end.

We went under the pool to the filter room and were able to watch the swimmers during practice from the huge window that allows you to see underneath the pool.

We also found out that there is an amazing amount of storage above the gymnasium and discovered that there are several different doors that lead to the roof of the school. I also took the kids into the

press box hanging over our basketball floor. I had been there plenty of times, but most of the kids had never seen it from the inside.

We also ventured into several places that even my journalism students did not know existed: the wrestling room and the magazine room behind the library were two of the main ones.

What was funny, though, was the few places we thought were going to be pretty cool turned out to be nothing. That included a storage shed outside the school that looked pretty ominous, but only held lawn mowers. The incinerator room also was a big disappointment, given its impressive name.

Once we were finished with our adventures, we had to decide how to present the pictures, and the stories behind them. We decided to run good-sized pictures with basically over-sized captions to explain what each hidden place was, its approximate location and anything that made it cool. We ended up using eight different locations on the spread and our

cover included a shot looking down into the crawl space under the Industrial Tech hallway with a swirling headline that read “What Lies Beneath…”

We were satisfied with the spread, but of course we wish we could have done better. The one thing that was missing from a lot of the shots was people, but I didn’t feel comfortable allowing kids into some of these spaces.

We also decided that we would run a disclaimer that reminded students that most of these places were off-limits to them. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t hear one thing from any administrator about encouraging kids to try to find these places. The spread was accepted for what we intended, entertainment purposes only.

“It was one of our better spreads because students are constantly talking about the basement,” said Assistant Editor Maria Carlson. “They had no idea about the boiler room or the tunnels. It was something fun and interesting for both our staff and our readers.”

John McBride is the publications adviser at Fort Dodge High School in Iowa. The yearbook, the Dodger and the newspaper, theLittle Dodger are both more than 90 years old.McBride worked at three different newspapers in Iowa: the Ida County Courier, the Sioux City Journal and the Fort Dodge Mes-senger. He was a sports writer at all of them and was the assistant sports editor at the Messenger from 1993 to 1995. McBride received a BA in English from Iowa State and then earned his journalism endorsement from the state.

spring 2007 blend magazine 21

Page 24: Blend | Spring 2007

In Photoshop, there are many different ways to do one simple function. Creating a cut-out is a good example. It doesn’t matter how you make a selection, but the end result is always going to be the same.

Using the mask to create a selection is the most accurate and quickest way that I have found to make a cut-out. That being said, it takes a few steps to get right. But once you have done it once or twice, the steps feel pretty natural.

The first step is to make your picture into a layer. This isn’t 100% necessary, but will help you in the long run. To do this, go to the Windows menu and go down to Layers to open up the Layers palette. In the layers palette, you should see the picture you want to cut-out next to the word BACKGROUND.

Double-click on the word background. A dialog box will come up asking for the name of the new layer.

If you want a specific name for your layer, type it in. If not, click OK to make it Layer O. Now you are ready to create a mask.

To create a mask, you first have to go into the masking mode. This mode is located directly under the color swatches on the Photoshop toolbar. Normal mode is the button on the left; mask mode is the button on the right. Click the mask mode button.

IMPORTANT: Immediately after clicking the mask button, click on the default black/ white color. This will insure that your mask is being applied correctly so you won’t have to redo everything.

Once in the mask mode, click on your paintbrush tool (#1). Remember, you can always change the overall size and the hardness of your brush by using the brush palette (#2). If you want your cut-out to have a hard edge to it, the brush hardness needs to be at 100%. If you want a nice diffused look to your cut out, it needs to be at 0%.

Now, start painting the area that you want to be cutout, changing your brush size as needed. If you go outside of the lines, it’s easy to fix. Simply swap your colors

around so that you are now painting white instead of black. Now when you paint, you are erasing the mask that you painted on previously.

The default color for the mask is red. But if you are working with a picture that has many reds in it, the mask can be hard to see. To change the color, click on the mask mode button. This will

allow you to change the color and the opacity or your mask color.

Once you are finished “painting” your cutout, you need to get out of the mask mode. To do this, click on the normal mode button (the one on the left side of the mask button). When you do this, you will see your Paint job turn into a selection.

Ryan Sparrow is an instructor of journalism at Ball State University. He received his BA from Franklin College. Sparrow is a member of SND and NPPA. He teaches in the journal-ism graphics sequence at the university.

tips & tricks by Ryan Sparrow • Ball State University Department of Journalism

Photoshop cut-outs

NormalModeButton

MaskModeButton

Default Colors Color

Swap

NormalModeButton

MaskModeButton

Default Colors Color

Swap

NormalModeButton

MaskModeButton

Default Colors Color

SwapColor Swap

Mask Mode ButtonNormal Mode

Button

Default Colors

Page 25: Blend | Spring 2007

by Ryan Sparrow • Ball State University Department of Journalism

Hit the delete button to create your cut-out. If you deleted your cut-out and left the background in, don’t panic. Just undo your deletion and inverse your selection. You can find this under the SELECT menu, down to INVERSE.

Save your document. A dialog box will come up because we have changed the format of your picture. Your picture with layers MUST be saved as a Photoshop document (.psd). You can always save a “flattened” version of your picture elsewhere.

After saving, we need to create something that InDesign knows how to handle. First open up the Paths Palette. The Paths palette is located in the same place you found the layers palette (Window/Paths). We are now going to convert your selectionaround your cut-out into a path.

First step is to make sure your selection is still there. If you do NOT see the animated dotted lines around your cut-out, have no fear. Go under Select to LOAD SELECTION. Since we created layers, your selection is automatically saved for you. Make sure that the selection is around your CUT-OUT and NOT the BACKGROUND!!! Very important.

Once you have your selection up, we need to convert it to a path. This is a three-step process, all of which are located in a menu that is found when clicking on the side arrow of the paths palette.

1. Make Work Path2. Save Path3. Clipping Path.

Just OK through all of the default settings on these. A clipping path is what InDesign understands. Just to make sure that the clipping path exports properly, click on your new path in the paths palette.

Now, the last step in Photoshop is saving the file in a different format. You need to SAVE AS. Once the Save as Dialog box opens, go to the bottom and change your FORMAT to a PHOTOSHOP EPS file.

Now, place the new file into InDesign. Go to your text wrap palette and click on the third option. This text wrap will allow you to select a Photoshop Path for your desired text wrap.

spring 2007 blend magazine 23

Page 26: Blend | Spring 2007

News has been the same from day one.From the most isolated tribes in Africa to the most distant

islands in the Pacific, people shared a general definition of what news is. They even looked for the same qualities in the ones they chose to deliver their news: someone who could quickly get, accurately gather and engagingly retell the information that mattered.

But now there’s a problem. The public doesn’t trust news media anymore.

It’s sad, but it’s true. According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, only 21 percent of Americans thought the press cared about people, and only 58 percent respected the press watchdog role.

What’s worse is that in many ways they have every reason to. Reporters like Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair and Jack Kelley have fabricated their way into the hearts and minds of millions of readers.

But, in a little different way, most of the stories in a newspaper are fact-plus-fiction constructions.

So much of the time readers are afraid that they’re not getting the whole story — I know I’m guilty of it. But, ironically, readers get more than the whole story. What you write for the paper, whether you realize it or not, combines all the facts you worked so hard to get with a whole lot of information that has nothing to do with anything.

Since we picked up a pen and pad, every journalist is ingrained with the ideal of perfect fairness. So, in the interest of fairness, every one statement for has to be balanced by

another statement against.The motivation for including “both sides” is to create

objectivity, but oftentimes it makes finding true objectivity too difficult. When we try to give readers the whole story, we’re really just giving the facts plus some equalizing fiction.

So, sadly, what was once your reader might now be Ann Coulter’s reader or Bill O’Reilly’s viewer; they get so skeptical of the “objective” news that they turn to the opinion page, thinking that somehow writers who openly admit their biases can be trusted. But most of these are more entertainers than journalists, and the public follows whichever entertainer they agree with.

In the introduction of his book “The Elements of Journalism,” Tom Rosenstiel writes, “That independence requires journalists to be neutral [is a myth]. The concept of objectivity has been so mangled it now is usually used to describe the very problem it was

conceived to correct.”Sometimes a story is pointed, and it’s wrong to tell it any

other way. You think you’re attempting to make your story objective, but all you’re really doing is confusing everyone.

Don’t abandon the ideals of fairness and objectivity — just don’t work so hard to make your stories objective that readers can’t tell what the truth is.

Maybe we can bump up that 21 percent. Maybe we can lessen the impact of the Jayson Blairs of the world. This job needs to be done, and we know that. The public needs to know that, too.

Nick Feldman has been involved in journalism every semester of high school, serving as a member of The Apple Leaf newspaper staff for more than three years. He has been editor in chief of the Pacemaker-win-ning newspaper for two years. He has won several individual state, regional and national awards and was named the 2007 Washington Journalist of the Year. Feldman plans to attend the University of Washington in Seattle to study in the communica-tions field.

my turn by Nick Feldman • Apple Leaf editor in chief • Wenatchee High School

Eliminate your fiction, earn back their trust

need more blend in your life?

Contact us today!Mail to: Journalism Workshops • Ball State University • Muncie, IN • 47306.

Call: 765•285•8900 • E-mail: [email protected]

24 blend magazine spring 2007

Page 27: Blend | Spring 2007

A white paper chain draped around the walls of Room 228 looks simple. It started as hundreds of slips of paper, one representing each day of the year. Then six were highlighted pink, one for each yearbook deadline, and the pressure began to build. As a link was removed each day, the scattered pink links got closer and closer.

Seeing these signs of a lurking worknight, the pink links cause a sense of panic for some.

“I know that each pink link means a long night of stress and pressure,” explains Student Life Editor Emily Simpkins. “So when I see a highlighted link getting closer and closer, I freak out!”

As the pink link gets closer, the classroom turns into a hub of organized chaos. The chaos causes some to go into competitive yearbooking mode.

During deadline five, the most feared of all deadlines for its size, Nicole Bui, an ever-calm co-editor, was not slowed down by the deadline stress. When a story needed covered, she reacted in rapid-fire under the pressure.

“It was deadline night and our staff was staring out of the windows in the Pub Lab,” Bui says calmly. “Blinking lights immediately caught my eye, so I rounded up some photographers and we ran outside to capture the action.” An accident involving two students and several emergency vehicles miraculously found their way onto a yearbook spread that night.

Helping the students stay calm under the stress of deadlines is one thing that is the quickest way to any yearbookers heart: food. Parents brought food that ranged from homemade lasagna to Chipotle to sandwich wraps.

“Every time a parent walked in with food, all of the editors and staffers got really excited,” said Production Editor Stephanie Nguyen. “One time one of the parents brought in Chipotle and it was amazing. Food tasted 10 times better after a long day of yearbook.”

Also topping off the list of must-haves for worknight are fudge brownies, courtesy of Academics Editor Nora Allen’s mom. The brownies, always accompanied by forks and napkins, disappear quickly.

“Just one bite is enough to put anyone in chocolate euphoria,” Bui said.

No matter how much work needs to be done, there’s always someone willing to take pictures to document a worknight. Two years ago, the staff of The Paragon started a “Wall of Fun,” a photographic documentation of what

happened throughout the year.“Every action that is taken in our publications room

on deadline night is documented through the lens of our cameras; the day after deadline we usually print out all of the pictures and post them up on our infamous wall,” said Creative Director Evelyn Weisskohl. “When it gets late and there is no end in sight, all it takes to lighten the mood is to take some hilarious photographs and plaster them up on our wall.”

As the late hours roll around, a staff of full-tummied, blinded-by-flash, tuckered out yearbook nerds departs Room 228 by 10 p.m., always pausing to pull one more pink link off the chain.

Chad Rummel, CJE, advises the Paragon Yearbook, DVD Yearbook, Out-look newspaper and online news-paper at Oakton High School in Vienna, Va. A native of the Sunflower state, Chad came to Virginia by way of a one-year stint as contest coordi-nator for NSPA in Minneapolis.

work night by Chad Rummel • Oakton High School

Six pink links: friend or foe?

How to have fun on a worknight:“On worknights we like to take short breaks after working for a long period of time. One time, a sports section editor decided to play a joke on her co-editor by hiding in a huge cardboard box and jumping out of it when she walked in the room. It was a good way to share a laugh before we had to tackle a few more hours of editing spreads.” senior Evelyn Weisskohl

Underclassmen editor Nobid Chowdhury, the sole male staff member, recovers from a paper cut caused by the hustle of moving papers on worknight by having adviser Chad Rummel bandage his wound. “Rummel got bored playing adviser and loved the chance to play doctor whenever he could. He got out these gloves and huge bandages to lighten the mood. It didn’t compensate for the horrible dance music he played.”

Page 28: Blend | Spring 2007

NameWilliam Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Commu-nications

CampusKU’s main campus occupies 1,000 acres on and around Mount Oread in Lawrence, a community of 88,500 among the for-ested hills of eastern Kansas.

Size of university20,908 undergraduates and 6,026 graduate students at the Lawrence and Edwards campuses.

Size of journalism school•731 undergraduate students•67 graduate students

HistoryJournalism classes

have been taught at KU since 1903. The J-School has been accredited con-tinuously since 1948 by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journal-ism and Mass Communi-cations. The school was named to honor William Allen White, the world-famous editor of the Emporia Gazette. The J-School hosts the Kansas Scholastic Press Association, the Kansas Journalism Institute and the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Degrees offered• Bachelor of Science in Journalism: news/information or strategic communication• Master of Science in Journalism

Campus Media•The University Daily Kansan and kansan.com — the daily newspaper and its Web site — offer the opportunity for multi-media reporting.•KJHK Radio — journalism students contribute to the daily newscasts on the alternative radio station, which is run by the Union Programs Department.•Jayplay — a weekly lifestyle magazine distributed with the Kansan.•KUJH-TV & tv.ku.edu — local cable channel and Internet site.

What sets the KU apart from others around the country?“The KU School of Journalism is consistently recognized

as one of the best journalism schools in the country for many reasons,” Sara Gilham, recruitment and retention coordina-tor, said. “We were one of the first to respond to changes in the workforce and technology by adopting two multi-media majors in 2000. These two majors, News and Information and Strategic Communications, replaced narrow degree programs

such as broadcast news, newspaper reporting, advertising and business communications. These multimedia degrees help students to gain exposure to several different areas of journalism, therefore making them more marketable in today’s ever-changing business environment.”

“Another unique aspect to the School of Journalism is the opportunity for freshman to participate in campus media. Our pre-journalism students are eligible to work on the University

Daily Kansan, KUJH-TV and KJHK-Radio. Many other journalism schools require that students are officially admitted to the program, which normally occurs in the sophomore or junior year, before they are able to participate,” Gilham said.

“The William Allen White School of Jour-nalism and Mass Communications prepares students for the working world by teaching skills, passion and integrity. Our faculty and staff are committed to students and their success on campus and beyond. We are proud of our students, faculty, alumni and national reputation of excellence,” Gilham said.

Contact informationThe University of Kansas William Allen WhiteSchool of Journalism and Mass CommunicationsStauffer-Flint Hall1435 Jayhawk Blvd.Lawrence, KS 66045-7575www.journalism.ku.edu

General InformationDean’s Office in Stauffer-Flint

[email protected] • (785) 864-4755

Journalism Student Recruitment and Reten-tionSara Gillham, coordinator: [email protected] • (785) 864-4768

Amy Morgan has been teach-ing journalism and advising publications at Shawnee Mission West for nine years. Morgan is the Journal-ism Educators of Metropolitan Kansas City Vice President and is also active in JEA and NSPA ac-tivities. She has been a member of the Kansas Journalism Institute faculty for 10 years, and has also taught other workshops around the country. Morgan is currently the Jackie Engel Endowment Committee Chair for the Kansas Scholastic Press Association.

college spotlight by Amy Morgan • Shawnee Mission West High School

University of Kansas • Lawrence, Kansas

©The University of Kansas/Office of University Relations; used with permission

Page 29: Blend | Spring 2007

Jacky Hicks is a junior majoring in journalism and political science at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. She participated in Poynter’s High School Journal-ism Program (www.poynter.org/highschool) when she was a student in high school, working on her school newspaper. Now she’s interning at Poynter. Reach her at [email protected].

a page from poynter

As an intern working on the high school program at the Poynter Institute, I’ve been exposed to journalism training of the highest degree. Part of my job has been to find web con-tent that is applicable to high school students. This column gives me a chance to share what I’ve found.

How to get an edge in a changing industryTight budgets have prompted many newspapers to cut

back on their internship programs, leaving college students scrambling for experience to beef up skimpy resumes. Some experts suggest that students develop copy-editing skills, including spell-ing, grammar and AP style, to set themselves apart.

“That’s always going to be in demand,” Richard Holden, execu-tive director for the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, said in a recent Poynter Online story. “Reporting interns are relatively easy to find. Copy editing interns are not.”

Online editing is more im-portant than ever, Holden told Poynter Online’s Leann Frola. “Obviously the Web has taken a much greater role in daily operations,” he said.

Frola also talked to journalism schools, to see how they’re adapting. She wrote:

“Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism is discussing how to get students ready for cross-platform journalism without neglecting reporting fundamentals, said Ernest Sotomayor, director of career services.

After seeing “hundreds and hundreds” of job cuts at newspapers for the past two years, Sotomayor said, he’s en-couraging students to get creative. Consider webzines, niche publications, community weeklies,” he tells students.

“Employment at newspapers is not going [anywhere],” Sotomayor said. “And there is nothing to indicate to me that it’s going to ever reverse.”

Students are busy refocusing as well, the story continued. Frola interviewed Laura Zaichkin, 21, a senior at Pacific Lu-theran University in Tacoma, Wash., who said she’s marketing herself as a “communicator” this year instead of a print jour-nalist as she’s done in the past. Zaichkin spent the last year as a new media intern at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

“Having that experience that veteran reporters don’t have is a major asset,” Zaichkin told Poynter Online.

So consider copy editing and working on web-based media to get experience that will set yourself apart when you’re competing for internships in college. Does your school have an online publication? If not, check out http://my.highschooljournalism.org, a site that will help your school start one. Bring a pro to your brainstorming sessions

Poynter faculty member (and former television news director) Al Tompkins writes a daily column on Poynter Online highlighting three or four potential story ideas with links to information about the topic and tips on how to navigate the issue. Often, with additional reporting, these could be local-ized to a high school paper or broadcast show.

In his Jan. 19 column, Tompkins wrote about later start times for high schools, quoting research on sleep-deprived teenagers and a National Public Radio report chronicling ef-forts by school districts to push back start times.

Tompkins weaves the research into his columns and

provides links so you can read the full report. In this story, he quoted extensively from NPR, which said:

“Most high schools begin their day around 7:30 a.m., which leaves many teenagers nodding off in the morning. In fact, at least 20 percent of high school students fall asleep in class on a typical day. The problem: Teenagers need a lot of sleep — about nine hours each night, experts say. And most of them aren’t getting enough.

One Minneapolis school district report-ed less depression, greater alertness, and fewer drop-outs after moving its start time from 7:20 to 8:40 a.m., Tompkins quoted NPR as saying.”

Does your school have an early start time? Find out what teachers and stu-dents think about the school’s schedule and get details about how the start time affects their lives. Get beyond the “I like it” or “I hate it” quotes and into the “I drink three venti mochas before 7 a.m. just to get my eyes open” reality. Could you spend the morning with a few students or teachers and describe their routine? Build

your story around those details and the research, not just a string of quotes. Follow the links in Tompkins’ article and incorporate the facts in boxes and other story forms to break things up.

If you like Tompkins’ approach to story ideas, subscribe to Al’s Morning Meeting and have it e-mailed to you. Find Al’s Morning Meeting at ww.poynter.org/morningmeeting.Editors must be leaders, not just friends

Editors face unique challenges in the high school news-room. Trying to manage a best friend, an apathetic staff writer or a social enemy might seem impossible. How do you get your peers to listen?

“Leading Lines,” a column written by Poynter’s leadership faculty, is a good place to go for help.

In “Are You a Manager, a Leader, or Both?” Poynter’s Jill Geisler writes:

“Managers have the authority to make things happen. They can do it by force (reward and punishment), by simply “pulling rank.” That’s authority. But managers who lead, and leaders who aren’t managers, reach goals through influence.

“Influence comes from trust — from a person’s expertise, integrity, and empathy as perceived by others. Maximum influence accrues to those who are strong in all three areas.

“As I see it, people are required to follow managers. They choose to follow leaders.” (http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=34&aid=62579)

Be the leader who motivates rather than commands your staff to do things. Focus on developing yourself, your knowl-edge and character, as well as your staff. Believe it or not, this will make for better journalism.It’s free, it’s online, what could be better?

News University or NewsU (www.NewsU.org) is another excellent training opportunity from Poynter. It offers self-paced courses, free, that take an hour or two to complete. Familiarize yourself with AP style in “Cleaning Your Copy,” en-rich your reporting skills with “The ‘Be a Reporter’ Game” and “The Interview,” and discover writing and revision techniques with “The Lead Lab,” “The Writer’s Workbench” and “Get me Rewrite” among others.

All this to say, start using what’s available to you from Poynter Online. Learn from the professionals.

by Jacky Hicks • The Poynter Institute

Writing, editing tips right at your fingertips

Wendy Wallace, director of the high school pro-gram at Poynter, contributed to this report. E-mail her at [email protected].

Page 30: Blend | Spring 2007

CD Review | You Can Not Be Without mewithoutYou | 19

Wasting Away

As drinking be-

comes more and

more popular

among teens,

the negative ef-

fects become

clearer|10

Friday, November 3 | issue

Super Fans | 16

photo by ariel sinha

4

8800 W. 85th Street

Overland Park, KS 66212epicshawnee mission west

As players and coaches prepare

for postseason play, fans of Vi-

king football become even more

spirited.

ariel sinha

A Future in Fire| Two seniors aspire to protect and serve after graduation | 13

Discover the PointeFreshman Audrey Murrayworks dances everyday inhopes of becoming a professional balletdancer|5

Tuesday, November 21 | issue

Powderpuff 2006:

photo by ariel sinha

5

8800 W. 85th StreetOverland Park, KS 66212

epicshawnee mission west

The girls from the class of ‘07remain undefeatedin powderpuff play following a 23-0 beatdown ofthe juniors.

photo byMary Tunakan

Smoked‘08 Gets

|15

the gallery compiled by Brian Hayes • Ball State University

A look at publications from across the country

ROCKLIN HSTonitrus, ybRocklin, Calif.• Ribbon appears throughout • Chronological • Nice color scheme

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32 Kari Davis, Lisa Machado

at Homecoming Rally everyone was

9/25

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PFS Date: 12/20/2006 Time: 16:23 Helvetica Neue, Aquarius, Myriad

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PFS Date: 12/20/2006 Time: 16:23 Helvetica Neue, Aquarius, Myriad

RMCID: Registration, Black, Paper, None

spirit day

prepare for battle “I made a shirt that said Rocklin Thunder on the front

and on the back it said class of ‘09 and I totally wore all blue and white... you know, to show off all my school spirit.” Stephanie Fitzhugh

“I actually never wore camo to school before, but today I wore my ghillie suit which basically looks like a big bush and I got first place.”

Andrew Mason

Although Homecoming week was a time of messy games

and screaming, students remained concerned with the postponed school. Teachers pushed back test and due dates of projects. The challenge was that it buillt up all the important work at the end of the first quarter and students had less time to bring up grades. “I don’t like the fact that teachers give you all the work they should have given you during Homecoming week after and then you have to do a lot before the end of the quarter,” said Joselyn Del Cid.

The Homecoming Rally marked a turn around in the spirit point totals with the juniors coming back from last place and getting first in the rally. Zachary Barney said “Personally, I think that people don’t think we have much of a shot, but if we follow our game plan and do our job and execute, then we will have success.” This was exactly what happened compared to their “too good for this” motto in the previous rallies.

Assisting the win in the rally, Bryan Oliver won the Candyland game by eating the most candy. “Tyler Garrison was yelling at me and telling me that I was stupid being in the candy eating contest because we had a soccer game at 3:45. I told him that I had it under control. I ended throwing it all up after the rally. It was pretty gross,” said Bryan.

The Chipotle prize proved a strong incentive in this rally. “Being a junior, I thought it was great that the juniors won the rally, not only because we got Chipotle, but we also showed the other classes that if we want to win, we have what it takes,” said Monica Fein.

Showing their senior spirit, Farrin Smith and Kelly Benemelis root on their class in the rally games. Racing the clock, Reed Scherer stuffs his face into a Chipotle burrito. Preparing for a win at the rally, Tyler Salata gets lines drawn on his face. On the sidelines, Ashley Hearn prepares for the routine that the varsity team is performing at the end of the rally.

Competing in the orange juice game, Collin Chavez makes sure that the sticky juice stays in his mouth. Sitting in the amphitheater, John Malek and Emily Allyn watch students vote for Homecoming king and queen during the lunch time games. Holding up his arms to form an “X”, Matthew Longo strategizes techniques to fool his opponents. Putting on his own lunch time show, Charles Song drinks a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew in front of the amphitheater. Trying to catch every drop, Jessica Subido races for the junior class to transfer the orange juice to the bottle. “I think most of the orange juice went down my shirt. It was definitely a messy experience,” said Jessica.

As part of the Hungry Hippos theme, Jonathan Aguilar, Robert Meador and Shannon Stowers paper mache orange balls.

“I was on the inside of the float opening the mouth of the orange hippo. Shaina sort of assigned me the job of pomping because people kept asking me to help them.“

Rachel Croopnick

Before they lifted the die onto the float, Emma Lyle paints the number black for the Jumanji themed float.

“I love float construction and the fact that people who are maybe not involved with a lot of school stuff and people who are involved a lot, come together.”

Courtney Buzdon

Getting ready for the final touches on the senior float, Kayla Roberts opens the paint cans to add color.

“I built all the really hard stuff and that’s why they needed me. I’m pro. I didn’t think it would work.”

Cassidy Hilton

Working on the submarine of the battleship float, Rebecca Nitz cautiously paints over the windows of the ship.

“Last year float construction was at my house. I built the frame and helped with the battleship.

Christopher Africa

fridaythursday

Kane Stevenson, Kevin Gillette, Ari Frink, Richie Ferris, Max Nesmith, Brogan Begley

Taking a win for the senior class on spirit day Christopher Ford, Kevin Gillette, Kelly Johnson and Collin Chavez. Showing big enthusiasim for the sophomore class are Samantha Wittwer and Jonathan Ogata

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Daniel Casiano in language arts.

Zack Zadrozna had more than five trophies along w

ith

Wayne Lininger, Eric Nunez, Matt Morales, Hakeem Snaif, Tyler Traynor, Jaymee Srp, Kaylee Layton, David Lobaccaro,

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Grant Speckert and Joel Day. “Mine are soccer trophies from different tournaments in my room, some of them are in the garage.”

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032-033.indd 32-33 3/27/2007 12:11:12 PM

“Soft tacos from Taco

Bell, no lettuce, and lot of

taco sauce. Taco sauce is

the best condiment.”

-Olivia Gray, 11

Fat FactsCalories: 210

Total Fat: 10 g.

Sat. Fat: 4 g.

Sodium: 1150 mg.

“The Spicy Chicken

Sandwich is the best

chicken sandwich hands

down.”

-Jeremy Homer, 11

Fat FactsCalories: 480

Total Fat: 17 g.

Sat. Fat: 6 g.

Sodium: 1400 mg.

“Double cheeseburger with

Mac sauce and lettuce. It’s

the cheap way to get a Big

Mac with less carbs.”

-Broc Cole, 11

Fat FactsCalories: 440

Total Fat: 23 g.

Sat. Fat: 11 g.

Sodium: 1150 mg.

“They are not too big, not

too small, not too soft, not

too hard, and seasoned to

perfection.”

-Jill Johnson, 12

Fat FactsCalories: 210

Total Fat: 11 g.

Sat. Fat: 4 g.

Sodium: 295 mg.

Taco Bell Soft Taco McDonald’s Dbl. Cheeseburger Wendy’s Spicy ChickenRally’s French Fries

What’s your favorite fast food item?

Rally’s Big Buford

“French Fries from

McDonalds are my

best friend... for

real.”

-Mindy Ma, 10

Fat FactsCalories: 380

Total Fat: 20 g.

Sat. Fat: 5 g.

Sodium: 220 mg.

McDonald’s French Fries Mancino’s GrinderTaco Bell Taco Supreme

“Mancino’s Ham and

Cheese Grinder is the

best because Korey

makes them with love.”

-Jericka Webb, 11

Fat FactsCalories: 770

Total Fat: 32 g.

Sat. Fat: 12 g.

Sodium: 1840 mg.

“The Taco Supreme

from Taco Bell is the

best. I love Taco Bell

so much.”

-Kyle Plummer, 9

Fat FactsCalories: 150

Total Fat: 7 g.

Sat. Fat: 2.5 g.

Sodium: 360 mg.

“I like the Big Buford

from Rally’s with no

tomato or onion. Rally’s

has the best burgers.”

-Crystal Lear, 12

Fat FactsCalories: 745

Total Fat: 48 g.

Sat. Fat: 20 g.

Sodium: 1860 mg.

What’s your favorite fast food item?

Annie Reihman[opinion]

How would you like to eat

Dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent?

What about Silicon Dioxiode, an anti-caking

agent? Kind of makes you want to lose your

lunch, right? Well, unfortunately for many

Americans, these are common ingredients in

their lunch. In fact, they are the ingredients that

KFC puts into their chicken.

Kind of makes you stop and think. What am

I really eating when I put those tasty hamburgers

and greasy French fries into my mouth? How

can something that only takes a couple seconds

to make taste so good? Well the truth is, fast

food is much more deceiving than it looks.

Tasty or Tasteless?

We can start with the taste. The meat taste in

hamburgers does not come from the tender thigh

of some black and white heifer that has been

fattening up in the field for the past couple of

years. Rather, it is a mixture of chemicals some

Harvard graduate cooked up

so McDonald’s could create a

signature taste while spending

less money on quality meat.

Or, take KFC, whose

web site states its chicken

contains “up to 43% of

a Solution of: Water, Seasoning, and Sodium

Phosphate.” You are paying $4.00 and are

getting more water than chicken. What a rip-

off.

Don’t forget the fries. The potato flavor does

not really come from the fresh, home-grown

potatoes fast food restaurants purchase. Rather,

it comes from a flavor plant in Dayton,

New Jersey. The factory mass

produces the “French fry”

smell, for the aroma of

food constitutes for

90% of the food’s

taste. So next time

you stuff those

greasy French

fries into your

mouth, you can

thank the flavorist

who created the

smell to help make

your food taste

good.

Paying the Price

At about this time, you

are probably saying to yourself,

“So what? It’s cheap, and it tastes

good. Who cares how it’s made?”

But how costly is the food really? Sure, the

dollar menu at Taco Bell and McDonald’s is a

good deal. Who wouldn’t want to get a filling

meal complete with entrée, drink, and dessert

for just under $5? But check out the long term

costs.

In each of those McDonald’s cheeseburgers

are 300 calories and 12 grams of fat. Upgrade

to a Big Mac and you have 540 calories and 29

grams of fat. Nutritionists recommend 65 grams

of fat per day, and consuming half those calories

in one meal increases the likelihood you will

exceed that recommendation.

Even the drinks are unhealthy. A 12

oz. soft drink is the same as 10

spoonfuls of sugar. So next

time you’re thirsty and go

for that 42 oz., think if

you would enjoy eating

34 spoonfuls of sugar

with your meal.

It is not only the

traditional fast food

that’s packing on

the calories. Meals

that appear to be

“healthy” choices

mayhavejustasmany

calories as a Double

Quarter Pounder. Taco

Bell’s Fiesta Taco salad

has 860 calories, and Arby’s

Market Fresh Turkey Ranch and

Bacon Sandwich has 834 calories.

The food is a little more costly now, huh?

Still don’t believe me? Well, let’s take

McDonald’s popular number three meal,

which includes two double cheeseburgers (880

calories), a medium Sprite (210 calories), and

a medium fry (380 calories). That’s a total of

1,470 calories, almost three quarters of your

recommended calorie intake per day (in a 2,000

colorie diet). And we wonder why obesity rates

have more than doubled in the last ten years.

To raise the price tag further, let’s say you

Super Size your meal adding only $.75 more for

at least 20% more food. You are also adding 400

some calories to it. According to the film, Super

Size Me, you would have to walk for seven hours

straight to burn off a Super Sized Coke, fry, and

Big Mac.

Maybe you should put that dollar fifty in the

bank instead. As much as the typical American

eats at fast food restaurants a year (almost

190 times), you could save over $2,500 in

twenty years. That is approximately the cost

of liposuction, something you will need after

eating all that fast food.

Healthy Alternatives

Not all fast food is unhealthy though.

Remember Jared? By following a few easy tips,

eating out can actually be a pleasant and healthy

experience.

First, grilled or broiled items are much

healthier than anything that is fried. Also,

have your condiments included on the side and

use them sparingly. Mayonnaise adds more

calories than you would believe. Diet sodas,

unsweetened tea, or water are another simple

way to cut calories. Finally, stay with regular

size meals. Fast food is unhealthy enough, so

you do not need the extra calories a large fry

would add.

The world of fast food is not a hopeless place.

Rather, if you exercise caution and eat smart,

the All-American food can turn into a quick and

happy meal.

the

SKINNYFASTfood

on

If you can’t say it, you probably shouldn’t eat it

How often do you

eat fast food?

once a week

47%

once a month24%

7%never

every day

22%

By using mascots and catchy phrases, advertisers work to appeal to youth. Below are

eight slogans fast food restaurants have used to help advertise. See if you can match

them up with the restaurants that use them.

The allure of advertising

1. “I’m Loving It”

2. “I’m thinking_____”

3. “Eat Fresh”

4. “Have it your way”

5. “Eat great, even late”

6. “Think outside the bun”

7. “Gather ‘round the good stuff”

8. “You gotta eat”

1. McDonalds 2. Arby’s 3. Subway 4. Burger King

5.Wendy’s 6. Taco Bell 7. Pizza Hut 8. Rally’s

A day in the life of...Jon King

[McDonald’s employee]

Employed for: 9 months

Salary: $5.55

What is the best thing about working at a fast food restaurant?The discount. Free food when you

work and half-off the rest of the time.

What is the worst thing about working at a fast food restaurant?Telling people where you work, and

the horrible amount of grease that

has to be cleaned off everything.

What types of tasks does your job involve?

I do everything. Some days I wash

dishes take orders, and make

change. Other days I cook meat

and make sandwiches. There are

tons of great tasks at “the dons.”

After learning how the food is prepared, would you still eat it?

Absolutely! McDonalds is one of the

cleanest restaurants I’ve ever seen.

Everything is cleaned many times a

day. Also, the food has times on it,

so it can’t sit out forever.

What is your favorite fast food item?

I like a lot of things, but my favorite

meal would be the Big N’ Tasty with

onions, but add cheese and a side-

salad and lemonade to drink.

28 blend magazine spring 2007

wanna see your pages printed here?e-mail us at: [email protected] to find out how!

RICHMOND HSThe Register, npRichmond, Ind.• Bold use of color • Interesting content • Nice use of graphics

Friday, December 1

8800 W. 85th StreetOverland Park, KS 66212

epicshawnee mission west

Remember

special edition

Nic Lazowski, senior, cheers on the Vikingsduring the State Championship.ariel sinha

A Ride toThe Viking football team caps off a remarkable

season with a trip to the big game photo by ariel sinha

SHAWNEE MISSION WEST HSEpic, nmOverland Park, Kan.• Modular layout • Nice photography• Good typography

LAWRENCE NORTH HSLynx, ybIndianapolis• Nice Theme • Good color scheme• Creative play-book idea

Page 31: Blend | Spring 2007

Adobe, the Adobe logo, and InDesign are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Design anD proDuce page layouts for yearbooks anD scHool newspapers

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Page 32: Blend | Spring 2007